Today I dwell in the music of Bob Dylan's offspring, Jakob. His band, The Wallflowers, has produced some great music. I have it all on my iTunes. It's straight ahead, lyrical, and smart. While no one would want to be compared with Bob, Jakob's poetic sensibility is an acorn not far from the genetic tree. His lyrics burn the world down (fire being a prominent motif), but the burning world is not devoid of life, and it bears meaning precisely in its huddling brokenness. His songs always make me want to start over, and they even make it seem possible.
He just released a solo album produced by the great Rick Rubin. It is spare--acoustic guitar and Jakob's smokey vocals. Parts of it are gripping, and most of it satisfying. My favorite song might not be the one to dwell in on a Sunday, but I love "Evil is Alive and Well." This isn't evil the way John McCain and Sarah Palin talk about it. It's more like the way C. S. Lewis imagines it. It's not always obvious, which makes it all the more evil.
It doesn't always have a shape
Almost never has a name
It maybe has a pitchfork, maybe has a tail
But evil is alive and well
It might walk upright from out of the inferno
May be coming horseback through deep snow
It's ragged and fat and hungry as hell
Evil is alive and well
Evil is alive
Evil is well
Evil is alive
Evil is well
On your feet to the tower and yell
Evil is alive and well
May be too humble to want to speak
May have a blood soaked bird in its teeth
Smoked filled skies and bees in the well
Evil is alive and well
Maybe in a palace it may be in the streets
May be here among us on a crowded beach
May be asleep in a roadside motel
But evil is alive and well
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